Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why

Helping Children Succeed: What Works and WhyBook Review by: Carli Brown In our world, people have encountered many different experiences. These experiences that people have shape who they are today. As educators, we understand that our students will be diverse in many different ways: race, ethnicity, religion, age, and disability; however, we tend to forget that a child’s early life has a lot of influence on who they become. In this book, it not only talks about the “why,” but it also talks about the “how” behind educating students who come from low-income households. In this book, Helping Children Succeed: What Words and Why, Paul Tough attempts to answer a very simple question, that has a more complex answer. In his first book, he discusses children’s backgrounds and how these backgrounds affect their skill developments. After writing his previous book, so many people understood the research and began to ask the question, “What do we do?” In this book, he attempts to answer that question for educators, childcare workers and even parents. In a short 144 pages for 10 dollars, Tough published this book with Houghton Mifflin in 2016 to attempt to dive into different program’s ideologies and their success. In the end, he discusses the three things that will ultimately create change. Changing policies, changing practices, and changing our way of thinking. Throughout this book, Tough explains that a child’s environment in the early ages affects their non-cognitive skill development. These non-cognitive skills are more important to a child’s future success than academic skills they may learn later on in their lives. Tough gave many examples of different people who are not educators who were very successful in “teaching” these non-cognitive skills. He explains that, “ Maybe you can’t teach character the way you teach math, (Tough, 2016, p. 11). In all of the situations he researched, the adult did not use character words such as: grit, perseverance, or patience; the adult allowed the student to experience situations where they needed to develop these character traits. Tough discussed, in depth, how the environment of a child shapes them from age birth and on. The situations that a child experiences allows them to learn those character traits. Tough shows a lot of research to support a child fostering a growth mindset by putting them in situations where they have to show grit and perseverance. They can be put in these situations in life at home, and life at school. I really enjoyed Tough explaining the importance of relationships and pedagogy in changing a child’s life. Teaching a child more than academics. Tough explains the research from Deci and Ryan, researchers on rewards and incentives for children, that explains children’s three intrinsic motivations: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. For a teacher to allow those students to feel these things, educators can focus on two things: relationships and pedagogy. Tough goes on to explain that the relationships teachers have with their students either fosters that growth mindset, or allows judgemental feelings to settle in to a child’s mind. The way teachers talk and interact with students allows them to feel a certain way. They need to feel confident enough in a teacher’s classroom to make mistakes, and show some grit, when it comes to hard work. Tough states that, “ It’s that teachers have a critical and potentially transformative opportunity, when dealing with students who perceive school as a threatening place, to disarm those threats by changing the way they communicate,” (Tough, 2016, p. 86). Tough also discusses that the work teachers give their students must be meaningful and challenging. Boosting confidence and having a calm environment is important; but, once you have that positive environment, challenging students in a positive way gives them opportunities to learn how to problem solve, work together, and show some grit. This is called cooperative learning. “Giving students more autonomy in their learning meant- giving up control,” (Tough, 2016, p. 92). Tough explains that this model of learning is very beneficial for students, but may be more difficult for teachers because they have to give up control. I would give this book a 4.5 out 5 stars. The only critique I have for this book would be to add some practical ways to begin to create this calming environment for students. Projects and lessons that educators could work from that promote this positive environment for learning. After reading this book, I felt as if I could be more than a robot educator who develops students to succeed on a state test. There are two types of teachers, cognitive and non-cognitive teachers. I take a lot of pride in the way I build relationships with students, and the projects I give that may be challenging and outside of the box; therefore, this environment and these projects truly do help students succeed academically, as well as develop character traits. The actions and steps I take toward making sure my students feel safe and cared for, are the actions that create change in that child’s life. “…the trajectory that children’s lives follow can sometimes be redirected by things that might at first seem, to the adults in their lives, small and insignificant. The tone of a parent’s voice. The words a teacher writes on a Post-it note. The way a math class is organized. The extra time that a mentor or a coach takes to listen to a child facing a challenge. Those personal actions can create powerful changes, and those individual changes can resonate on a national scale,” (Tough, 2016, p. 113). Do the little things, for the little kids, so that when they become big kids, they have the opportunity to do big things. I would encourage every educator to read this book and truly have an open mind to see the students they are teaching, and the environment they are creating.

Siento que le falta profundidad en los temas, no ofrece referencias bibliográficas en el texto. Es entendible y busca ir al grano.

good

It is not as good as the previous book. It is like a large repetitive summary. I dont recommend it

When a teacher walks into his or her classroom, the main goal for the day is to teach the students and make the day as grand as possible. In other words, you leave your personal business “at the door”. When students walk into the classroom, they sometimes don’t have that privilege. We, as educators, don’t know what that child has gone through since they last left our class the afternoon before. Leaving their problems “at the door” is a large task to place on a student’s shoulders. The one thing teachers can do to make those students have a great day, is making sure the classroom environment is one where they feel accepted, loved, and nurtured.Published in conjunction with Mariner Books and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the book Helping Children Succeed, What Works and Why by Paul Tough, takes the reader on an in-depth look at how environmental factors possibly determine a student’s school-aged, and beyond, life. This short read, only 114 pages, provides various factors and researched statistics and outcomes to the reader, to show how things we never would have thought about, play a large role in a child’s upbringing and life. Helping Children Succeed, What Works and Why, is available for only $10.19 on amazon.com.According to Tough, there are three ways to create a change; the changing of policies, changing our practices, and changing our way of thinking. To get to that conclusion, Tough takes the reader on a journey through 23 chapter showcasing how interactions between students and adults can make all the difference. Topics such as adversity, stress, the connection with parents, neglect, and trauma are met with research and real-life instances that Tough saw first-hand and provide a real-world experience the reader can resonate with.One part I really enjoyed reading over was Chapter 18, Mindsets. I think Tough does a great job in detailing how students feel, and how research shows the effects words can have on students, especially those who are already fighting adversity outside of the classroom environment. The way a child is talked to and received in the classroom makes all the difference in how they work and how they see themselves. Having someone believe in them and hearing them say that, shows them that they have someone in their corner. “Teachers have a critical and potentially transformative opportunity, when dealing with students who perceive school as a threatening place, to disarm those threats by changing the way they communicate” (Tough, 2016, pg. 86) Tough also goes on discuss how building relationships with the students isn’t enough – they have to know that what they are doing is important. Chapter 20 discusses all about Pedagogy, specifically how it is set up with EL Education, Expeditionary Learning. EL Education allows for learning done through doing instead of listening, so Tough explains that through his research he notices that “in order for a student to truly feel motivated by and about school, he also has to perceive that he is doing important work – work that is challenging, rigorous, and deep” (Tough, 2016, pg. 99) This goes hand in hand with mindset, showing that everything done in the classroom is a contributing factor to the way a student feels about themselves, their relationship with others, including the teacher, and how they let outside factors affect their daily movements.Overall, I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. I feel that Tough does an excellent job at proving meaningful and countless research outcomes embedded in with all the chapters, but I don’t think he provided a practical way(s) to truly solve the problem of providing the type of perfect environment students need and deserve. I pride myself on building relationships with students and not only making them better learners, but better members of their community. I’d like to think that I am making a difference in their lives, without the help of some of the program Tough talks about in his research. I think as long as we keep an open mind and are willing to make changes for the betterment of our students, that will help bridge the gap and create an environment that is putting the kids and their needs first. “The first step is simply to embrace the idea, as those researchers did, that we can do better” (Tough, 2016, pg. 114)